This year’s Fabulous Fords Forever all-Ford car show was the 31st edition of the event. It has always taken place in April at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California and we have been covering it for at least the past 20 years, if not more.

Coyote swaps into Fox-body cars are a popular way to go. This example above, which looks to be finished in S197 Gotta Have It Green is a prime look at this lightweight combination that’s tough to beat. If “power to weight” is your thing, a Coyote/Fox is high on the list.

If that doesn’t tell you that Knott’s is one of the greatest all-Ford shindigs we’ve been to, then we don’t know what will. Put another way, we love it and we’re usually pretty glum on the few occasions we’ve been unable to attend.

And why is that? Sheer variety we would have to say. This year there were about 1,700 cars on the grounds and roughly 1,000 of those were Mustangs. And not only that, the Fords that aren’t Mustangs are also pretty cool, too, as you will see by perusing the big photo gallery we’ve posted below.

While late-model Mustangs are probably the most popular sort of Ford vehicle that make up the Knott’s show, we’d be remiss to overlook the other more vintage-oriented cars there are to see, including numerous ’65-’78 Mustangs as well as other Ford classics.

For next year’s show, be sure to look here for next year’s date, which will be on a Sunday in April 2017.

Late-Model Mustangs

Of course late-model Mustangs run the gambit from the first ’79-’86 square-light cars, on to ’87-’93 aero Fox-bodies. From there, the SN-95s carried the flame with both 5.0 power in 1994-95 and 4.6 modular motivation from 1996-04. Those included both two-valve GT models and the four-valve SVT Cobra versions. The peak of the SN-95 era is clearly the ’03-’04 Cobra with their supercharged 4.6-liter four-valve engines making 390 horsepower in stock form.

In 2005, the S197 Mustangs came out and the biggest upgrade in the S197 era was the 5.0-liter Coyote engine that made its debut 2011 and really put the S197 on the performance map from 2011 to 2014. The 2007-14 Shelby GT500s were also an important milestone for late-model Mustang performance and 2013-14 Shelby GT500s are something with their 662 horsepower 5.8-liter engine.

But now that the S550 is the current platform, we have it better than ever and the new Voodoo-Powered, 5.2-liter flat-plane-crank 2016-17 Shelby GT350 is basically a Mustang exotic. Tuners are just now getting their hands on these cars, so expect impressive results in the near future. As for the twin-turbo, terminator ’04 Cobra, we figure this one is likely making power output in the four figure range. So clearly as you can by the three cars pictured below, the golden age of Mustang performance has had a pretty impressive run since the supercharged SVT Cobra came out in 2003.

Backing up a little bit, we also still have an appreciation for ’79-’86 square-light Fox-bodies and these three 5.0 coupes pictured below are prime examples. The black ’86 belongs to Juan Brizuela and it rides on ARE 17-inch wheels. It also has an old-school, bundle-of-snakes GT-40 intake on its 306 small-block and a bunch of Maximum Motorsports suspension bits.

At the Knott’s Ford show there is a section known as “Area 51.” It’s reserved for the SVT Mustang Cobras from the 1990s and 2000s. This includes ’93-’04 Cobras and ’93/’95/’00 Cobra Rs. As you can see from this row of SN-95 Cobras, it’s always a great “area” to check out.

Vintage Mustangs

While late-model Mustangs are the main focus of StangTV, the late-model cars wouldn’t exist were it not for their vintage predecessors. Names like Shelby, Boss and Cobra Jet are some of the legends from the 1960s, and we have examples here of all of those. We even have a look at what a T-5 is and we’re not talking about the five-speed manual transmission of the same name.

Shown above, these two ’65-’66 fastbacks are technically not Mustangs. Say what? Then what the heck are they? Well, they are German-export T-5s built and exported to Germany for sale. Our friend Gary Hanson owns these awesome GT fastbacks and his very informative Website provides all the cool details on these unique Mustangs, oops we mean T-5s.

Bodie Stroud built this bad-to-the-bone ’65 “GT700S,” with supercharged Coyote power and a T-56. You can read all about it here.

We love ’69 Mustang fastbacks and to many, they are at the top of styling hit list with their one-year-only, four-headlight arrangement. And to our minds, these three below are some of the best examples you will see. They include a Bright Yellow Boss 302, a Candy Apple Red Mach 1 powered by a 428 Cobra Jet, and an Acapulco Blue Shelby GT350. For 1969, the GT350 was powered by a 351W engine with either a four-speed or an automatic.

Luis Garcia’s ’68 Cal Special has a built 306, a reverse-manual valvebody C4, and a 9-inch locker. Bonus points for the full drag slicks and original California black plates.

Other Ford Models, including Falcon, Fairlane and Galaxie

The Ford Total Performance era of the 1960s is not only about Mustangs, but also other Ford models including the Falcon, Fairlane and Galaxie. Several examples follow including Greg Fox’s ’66 Fairlane two-door hardtop shown above. Mid-size ’66 and ’67 two-door hardtop musclecars like a Pontiac GTO, a Chevelle SS396 or a 440/Hemi Coronet/GTX are legends all around. These Ford equivalent ’66-’67 Fairlanes are a little bit lesser known but, to our minds, equally beautiful. And Greg’s ’66 R-code 427 clone is a great example.

Ed Rutten has owned the ’66 Fairlane 500XL pictured above since 1972 and bought it from his parents. Nice underhood extras include ceramic-coated headers, an Edelbrock intake and a Mallory distributor for the 289.

Above, this ’64 Fairlane with a hi-po K-code 289 is rare as only about 600 were built with this engine and a four-speed manual. The paint, engine, transmission, and 9-inch rearend are all original. The odometer shows only 75,000 miles.

Some of the more unique cars at the show included these three pictured above. The ’62 Galaxie is an original G-code, 406 tri-power car. The unrestored survivor is 98 percent original and still has its born-with paint and interior. Terry Lincoln’s ’64 Falcon wagon has a nicely warmed up 302. Our favorite part is its T-5 five-speed transmission swap. Fresh paint and ’65 Mustang styled-steel wheels with Ford crest center caps round out the build. And Charlie Windt’s ’64 Falcon Futura has an EEC-IV EFI swap from a Fox-body Mustang. The Ford Racing GT-40 crate engine is backed by a T-5 five-speed and an 8.8-inch rearend also from a Fox. All in all, Knott’s is great show for any Ford enthusiast and we strongly suggest coming to check it out whenever you get the chance.